Hell's Rising
by charmedlizard
Summary: When Buffy comes back to town, predicting another apocolypse, Spike, Angel, and the gang spring into action. One wrench is thrown into their plans however, when a dark memory from Spike's past comes back to haunt him.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angel, nor am I affiliated**

I know this chapter is really short, but I'm trying to make it perfect

**Chapter 1: Haunted Memories**

It was about midnight and the full moon illuminated the railroad track where three figures could be seen. The smallest of the figures was only about eight years old. Her blond hair was plastered against her tiny head with sweat. The figure standing above her was a tall, skinny, and blond as well. His face was contorted in an evil smirk. With his right hand, he was holding down the young girl, and in his left was a metal railroad spike. On the sidelines, a tall, dark young woman watched, her demented mind enjoying the carnage.

"William! No, Please," the voice of a young girl screamed as the Vampire loomed over her. Her eyes were full of fear, and blood stained her lacy pink dress. She had scratches all the way down her tiny arms, and her left leg was broken. It was apparent that she had been tortured slowly and effectively for a long period of time.

The thoughts in her head had changed drastically since earlier that very day. That morning she had been so happy. Her grandmother had been throwing a party, and she was finally allowed to attend. She was sad as well, though. It had been less than a year since the death of her brother and mother, and she still wasn't fully over it. This party was supposed to celebrate her coming to live with her grandmother, as well as marking the end of the mourning period. Now however, she laid cold and bleeding on the railroad tracks, wishing for death. All thoughts of parties and fun wiped from her mind.

"Hold still," the Vampire growled, his thick British accent shining through. He had the young girl helpless beneath him. The spike in his hand was covered in blood. It oozed and dripped on the sand at his feet. His feelings were mixed. He knew he had to do this, but he wasn't sure if he could.

"Why are you doing this?" the girl pleaded. "Just leave me alone. This isn't you." For one split second, the Vampire paused. His eyes softened, as he looked down at the helpless child, laying on the railroad tracks by his feet. Remorse consumed him, but without a soul, remorse was not enough. One look at his female companion, standing to his left, and his eyes flashed cold again. He drove the railroad spike through the girl's stomach, pinning her to the ground. A thin stream of blood spilled from the edges of her mouth and she went limp.

"It's finished," the vampire announced, turning to his companion in the shadow. "Tell Angelus I did what he asked."

"NO!" Spike yelled, waking up with a start. Sweat trickled off his nose and down his bare chest. He climbed out of his bed. The sheets were soaked through with sweat and tangled in a mass at the foot of the bed. Angel had set it up for Spike to have this apartment. Neither of them really knew why Angel had offered, or why Spike had accepted, but they did. For some reason, Spike knew he needed to be here, in Los Angeles.

Feeling pent-up in the tiny apartment, Spike began to pace the room, staring at the empty walls. He'd always preferred a crypt to a house. Houses held memories of the living, but crypts held the false hopes of the dead. That's where he belonged, with the dead.

Needing some form of physical exertion, Spike grabbed the ledge above the door and began to do pull-ups. He felt the urge to push himself, to hurt. It was all because of the dream; the dream that had been coming to him more and more in the past few days. No, it wasn't a dream, he thought, a memory. Ever since he'd gotten his soul back, he'd been racked with guilt. It hurt so bad to think of what he had done. Pictures of death, blood, pain all flashed through his mind. He couldn't stop them. It was like a morbid slideshow. But even taking into count the thousands he'd hurt, this memory was the worst.


	2. Chapter 2: Potentials

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angel**

Hey, sorry I just re-uploaded this chapter because I misspelled Xander, and I'm a perfectionist

**Chapter 2: Potentials**

A few hours later, Spike took a much needed walk down to the warehouse district in Los Angeles. A few hours after waking up he had received an urgent call from Angel, asking Spike to meet him here. Normally Spike would have made some snide remark, and refused to show up, but Angel said it had to do with Buffy.

"You look awful," Fred commented, as she met Spike at the door of an old warehouse. "You look sick. Can Vampires get sick? Maybe you just need rest. Do Vampires have to sleep?"

"I'm fine," Spike replied coldly, though he was anything but. He hadn't had more than half an hour of consecutive sleep because of the dreams. He felt like crap. "Why'd Angel call us here anyway?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

"I don't know," Fred admitted. "I think it has something to do with the call he got from Giles the other day."

"Well, I guess we'll find out then. Won't we?" Spike stated, opening the door for Fred.

The inside of the warehouse looked far different from the outside. Outside it was run-down, and dilapidated. Graffiti covered the walls, and it looked like the building might have been set on fire at some point in time. Inside, however, it was clean and state-of-the-art. There were hundreds of girls in their teens training on many different kinds of equipment. There were punching bags, free weights, weight machines, and stationary bicycles. It was every exercise buff's dream.

"The potentials," Spike explained to Fred. "There are a lot more of them this time."

"So what's going on?" Fred asked Wesley, as her and Spike joined him next to Giles. Angel, and Gunn walked up soon after. "Why are we here and what are they doing?"

"Now's not the place to explain. Buffy and Faith are upstairs. We'll explain in a minute. Follow me." Giles led the group up a staircase and through a door into another training room. This one was a little different than the one downstairs. The only thing in the room was a large, blue mat on the floor.

Inside, Faith, Buffy, Xander, Dawn, and Willow stood around the mat watching two combatants duke it out. Buffy motioned for the new arrivals to join them around the mat. Angel stood to the left of Buffy, and Spike stood on the right, both glowering at each other over her head.

Ignoring the testosterone battle, everyone else focused their attention on the combatants in the room. One of the fighters, the one who seemed to be losing, was a male about nineteen years old. He had long hair that flopped around his face as he fought with his opponent, a girl about the same age. The girl was quite a bit shorter than the male, maybe four or five inches. Both fighters were in good shape, lean and muscular, so the fight was entertaining to watch.

The two sparred for another couple of minutes, alternating punches, kicks, and other evasive maneuvers. Finally, after about five minutes, the girl directed a front kick, directly at the boy's chest. The male fighter, caught off guard, stumbled backwards against Angel, knocking him to the ground.

"Angel?" the boy asked, suddenly getting a good look at the people watching the fight.

"Connor?" Angel said shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Sweetheart, are you ok?" the other fighter interrupted, running over to her opponent. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kick you that hard. Sometimes I just forget that you're not Stephen."

"It's ok Eliza. I'm fine."

"Vampire?" Eliza, the other fighter said, suddenly getting a good look at Angel's face. "Angelus…William." Suddenly Eliza pivoted to face Spike, who had been standing behind her. In one fluid movement, she aimed a round-house kick at Spike's head, catching him off guard, and sending him to the floor. Next she broke the leg off of a nearby wooden chair, and advanced on her prey.

"How dare you come back here? How dare you? You took my life, my future!" Eliza continued to scream at Spike as she pummeled him with her fists, the stake lay forgotten by her side.

"Eliza! No," Buffy chided, pulling her off the Vampire. She passed Eliza off to Connor, allowing him to hold her back. "Spike, are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"Are you insane? He's a vampire!" Eliza yelled, struggling for freedom.

"He has a soul," Buffy explained, helping Spike to stand on his feet. "Follow me; I'll explain why I brought you here." Buffy ordered to the Angel gang and they followed. Behind them, Eliza remained struggling against Conner's grasp.


	3. Chapter 3: What's going on?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angel, nor am I affiliated with it**

Hey guys, I hope y'all like this chapter. Any feedback would be great

**Chapter 3: What's Going On?**

Buffy led the group down the upstairs hall, and into a large room, with a conference table in the center. On the table there were over fifty different books of all size, shapes, and ages.

"So what's going on?" Spike asked, once everyone was seated around the large conference table. Buffy sat at one end of the table, while Giles sat at the other. Angel and Spike sat on either side of Buffy, and Dawn sat beside Spike. To Angel's left was Wesley, and Fred sat to Wesley's left, Gunn's right. Zander, Willow, and Faith, filled the remaining chairs.

"The hell mouth is reemerging," Buffy stated simply, and motioned for Giles to continue, ignoring the many shocked faces staring at her.

"Well," Giles began, putting on his glasses, and shuffling some papers in front of him. "I'm not sure if you're aware of the Vampiric Holiday, _Erus_, which is a day to celebrate the coming of the first Vampire." He stated, looking at Angel and Spike, who both nodded that they had heard of it. "Normally this celebration is not widely recognized in the Vampire world, but every hundred and fifty years large quantities of Vampires make a pilgrimage to the Hellmouth."

"That shouldn't be a problem, without a Hellmouth I mean. They won't have anywhere to go," Fred dismissed.

"Normally that would be the case," Giles conceded, "but during this gathering, there is such a concentration of evil, that they could reawaken the Hellmouth. It will take some very difficult spells, as well as some rare sacrifices, but it could be done."

"We ran into a Vampire in Italy," Buffy broke in, "after much persuasion, he told us of the plan to reopen the Hellmouth. Here, in Los Angeles. That's why we called you. We have all of our slayers here, training to fight, but we're still going to need your help."

"So what do you want us to do?" Gunn asked, looking around the table.

"We're kind of still working that part," Zander chimed in, awkwardly.

"There's going to be a fight," Faith stated, leaning forward onto the table. "We'll need your help doing the training and the research. As much as we hate to use the resources of Wolfram and Hart, we need them. We can't stop this thing on our own."

"Whatever you need, we'll do," Angel offered.

"Great," Buffy said, "Wesley, Fred, and Gunn, you'll help Giles with the research. Spike, you'll be in charge of training the new Slayers. Eliza and Conner can help you."

"Is that a good idea? That Eliza chick didn't seem to like me very much," Spike reminded.

"She'll get over it," Buffy replied shortly. "Angel, you can help Willow with the magic stuff. We will also need to take turns patrolling. We'll have to go in shifts, because we'll need people to guard the perimeter here too."

"I can get people to do that," Angel offered.

"No, I don't want anyone else from your company involved in this," Buffy stated, noting the hurt look on Angel's face. "I just don't trust them. Now, you're all dismissed." Taking their cue, everyone got up to start on their jobs. Wesley led the research group back to Wolfram and Hart, Spike went down to check on the new Slayers, and Angel disappeared to talk to Conner.

When Angel found Conner, he was still sitting in the upstairs training room talking to Eliza. As soon as they noticed that Angel had entered the room, Eliza immediately stood up for an offensive.

"It's ok," Conner cautioned, putting a restraining hand on Eliza's shoulder. Eliza, taking a hint from the look on Conner's face, left to give them some privacy. "Hey."

"Hey," Angel replied, feeling rather awkward. After a few moments, he finally gathered enough confidence to ask, "What are you doing here? I thought you were out of the demon hunting business."

"I was," Conner admitted. "Then one day I was walking downtown, and I saw this girl getting pummeled by twenty Vampires. It was Eliza," Conner explained. "I helped fight them off, and while it was going on, I realized that that's what I should be doing. I have a gift, and I should use it to help humanity. I'm not normal, and it was time I stopped deluding myself."

"What about college?" Angel asked worried that his son was giving up the future Angel had fought so hard for him to have.

"I'm going to UCLA. I just come down here between classes. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it."

"Just one more question. How does Eliza know about you being Stephen?" Angel asked, suddenly remembering the earlier encounter when she had mentioned it.

"We met in the hell dimension. We fought once, but I don't remember much about it. The whole thing's pretty complicated."

Meanwhile, Eliza had left the room to go downstairs and see how the training was going. She sat on a bench by the wall and watched the Slayers spar with one another. The girls were all very strong, but many of them were inexperienced. That's the main thing she worried about. It was one thing to beat up one another, or fight one Vampire at a time, but this was going to be different. There were going to be hundreds of them.

"So who was it?" Spike asked, startling Eliza out of her thoughts. He took a seat next to her on the bench. "Who of yours did I kill?"

"My mother," Eliza growled, "and your girlfriend killed my brother." Then, Eliza turned to Spike, before she had been looking down at her hands, deep in thoughts of the past, but now all of her attention was on the monster sitting beside her. "I will find a way to destroy you. Buffy won't always be there to save you." With those menacing words, Eliza rose and walked away, leaving a very despondent Spike in her wake.


	4. Chapter 4: Family History

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angel**

**Chapter 4: Family History**

"We're heading out," Buffy ordered, entering into the main room of the warehouse. All of the new Slayers froze on the spot. Taking a signal from Faith, the Slayers formed four different task forces. Faith led force A, Buffy led force B, Conner led force C, and Angel led force D.

"Here," Angel said, as he offered a key to Dawn, "you can stay at my place while we're out on patrol."

"No," Buffy interrupted. "Dawn, you stay with Spike at his apartment. Eliza, you go with her to keep her… company." Buffy added the last word in such a way that there was no mistake she meant "safe."

The look on Eliza's face would have made a seven foot tall, hairy, biker cower in fear. Buffy, however, continued to look her in the eye.

"Alright," Eliza conceded, giving Spike a long, cold stare. "I'll be sure to keep them safe. I mean company." With that settled, Eliza turned on her heal and headed out the door. She knew Dawn and Spike would follow and felt no need to turn around.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Willow whispered to Buffy once the trio had left the building.

"They need to clear the air if this group is to work together," Buffy stated, "either they'll stand each other or kill each other by the end of the night."

Eliza walked straight to Spike's door, without even asking for directions. Spike couldn't believe she knew where he was living. The whole thing was a little creepy.

"I'm going to take a shower. There isn't any food in the fridge, so you can order dinner. The tv is there. Make yourself at home." Spike walked into the bathroom, a little nervous about leaving Dawn in the same room as Eliza, but he figured she would be fine. He seemed to be the only one that Eliza really wanted to brutally torture and destroy.

Once the Vampire had left the room, the two girls sat quietly on his couch. They looked at each other for a few moments. Then Eliza, suddenly overcome with emotion, leapt off the couch, and started pacing around the room.

"I can't believe that Buffy is protecting that monster!" Eliza ranted, waving her hands widely above her head, and casting evil looks at the bathroom door.

"Don't be so tough on him. He's not that bad of a guy," Dawn argued, "He saved my life several times, not to mention keeping my secret from Glory. He's like a big brother to me. A big, dead, scary brother."

"What? Did he tortured you to death, and stabbed you through the stomach with a railroad spike, because that's what he did to his real little sister."

Dawn sat there shocked for a moment. She had known that Spike had done some very bad things, but she couldn't believe that he could do something like that.

"What're you talking about?" Spike asked, entering into the room. He had just finished having a shower, and was toweling off his hair.

"The fact that you brutally tortured and murdered your little sister," Eliza stated coldly. Spike froze, and if there had been blood in his face, it would have all drained out.

How did you know about that?" Spike stuttered. "It's not exactly widely publicized."

"I did a lot of research on you," Eliza threatened. "I wanted to know everything before I killed you." Eliza's face was four inches from Spike's face when she finished. She looked more angry than she'd ever been. "The pizza's here." Eliza suddenly stated. She got up and went to the door, leaving Dawn gaping at Spike.

"Did you really? Did you do that?" Dawn asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes," Spike admitted. "It was my initiation into Angel's Vampire gang. It was the worst thing I've ever done."

"Wow." Dawn was speechless. She'd known that Spike had done some awful, awful things. She wasn't naïve. This was way more than what she had ever expected.

Later that night, as Dawn lay sleeping on the couch, while Spike and Eliza sat at the kitchen table. Spike sat back in his chair, deceptively relaxed. Eliza, however, sat forward in her chair, both elbows on the table. She looked as if she was ready to pounce at any moment.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Spike asked, breaking the silence. "Do you want to cut off my hands are something? That's popular these days."

"No, I want to destroy you. Instead, however, I'll put up with you. I will allow you to live until this hellmouth situation is resolved. Don't, however, make the mistake of thinking I forgive you. I could never forgive you for what you've put me through. I will have revenge, but I can wait."

"So a truce until you kill me then?" Spike asked, putting forward a hand for her to shake, or cut off.

"Fine," Eliza agreed, putting her hand in hers. The hand shake lasted a few moments, as each participant tried to crush the bones of the other, but eventually, with tears in their eyes, they let go.

There was a long awkward pause.

"Want a beer?"


	5. Misunderstandings & Clarifications

Dislcaimer: I don't own Angel

Sorry this is kind of a weird chapter. I really just need to get some random background out of the way…then the action will really start

**Chapter 5: Misunderstandings and Clarifications**

Two hours and five cases of beer later, Spike and Eliza were the best of friends. The pair had gotten so loud, that Dawn had moved to sleep in the bedroom.

"I definitely agree that cavemen could take aliens," Eliza laughed a slight English accent showing through. In fact, she laughed so hard she fell out of her chair and onto a cushion of beer cans. "Ow, how'd those get here?" she slurred, wiping the cans out of the way. Suddenly, she got a weird look on her face; then passed out flat on her back.

"I don't know," Spike admitted a puzzled look on his face, not noticing his companion was unconscious. "I can't get the tab of this beer off." Spike wrestled with the can, until he became exceedingly frustrated, and transformed his face. He bit down into the can using his fangs, and drunk in the alcoholic liquor.

"Spike," Angel called, entering into the apartment. "Spike!" Angel yelled again, seeing his teeth and Eliza lying unconscious on the floor.

"What?" Spike slurred, restoring his face to a more human form. "I didn't eat her. She's just passed out from the booze," Spike explained, pointing to the hundreds of cans on the floor.

"I did not," Eliza protested, opening her eyes. "I was just taking a nap."

"You're talking with an English accent?" Angel wondered. "What's with that?"

"I do not," Eliza denied her accent thickening. "Oh bloody 'ell. I give up." Eliza said sitting up. "Wow that was a rush. I'm hungry." Eliza, getting on all fours, crawled out of the open front door.

"Why was Eliza crawling down the hall?" Giles asked, entering through the front door.

"She's drunk," Spike slurred. "Girl can't hander hill liquor…handle her liquor."

"Right," Giles scoffed. "One of the patrol groups found something. Buffy wanted me to come and get you to. Let's go."

The three men left Spike's apartment, though one a little tipsier than the rest. Spike wrestled to get his brain unfogged as he followed Giles to the warehouse. In fact, by the time he walked through the front doors, it was nearly impossible to tell that he had been drunk earlier (though he was still speaking very interestingly).

"So what's going on?" Angel asked Buffy when they met her at the base of the stairs.

"Task group C caught a Vampire last night that they think might have some important information. I haven't interrogated her yet. I thought both of you would want to come with me," Buffy explained. The trio entered into the upstairs conference room where, in the far corner, the female Vampire was chained to a chair. Five other slayers stood watch around their captive.

"Dru?" Spike slurred in shock. Sure enough, the Vampire turned her head, to show the face of Drusilla, the sire of Spike.

"Hello William," Drusilla greeted in her own demented way. It was eerie the way she seemed to look deeper into a person than normal.

"Buffy," Eliza started, entering into the room, "Willow said- Drusilla?" Eliza stopped in her tracks, and gazed in fear at the woman who sat in front of her. Not fear because of how powerful she was; no Drusilla was weak. Eliza was afraid because if anyone knew her secret, it would be her.

"What did Willow say?" Angel asked.

"What?" Eliza stammered, startling out of her shock. "Oh, right, she says that they found some information on the resurrection ritual. What is she doing here?" Eliza suddenly changed the subject back to the Vampire sitting in front of her.

" 'Ello darling," Drusilla cooed, training her gaze on Eliza. "You've grown so nicely."

"You two know each other?" Buffy asked, looking from Eliza to Drusilla.

"No, I don't know what she's talking about," Eliza declared defensively.

"Where's your pretty pink dress?" Drusilla continued. "Didn't she look pretty in pink William? Such a lovely girl."

"Dru," Spike said, moving to her side, "you're confused. What can you tell us about the resurrection of the Hell Mouth."


	6. Unveiling Secrets

**Disclaimer: I do not own/am not affiliated with Angel.**

Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to update. Things have been crazy with school lately. I'm nearing the end so enjoy.

**Chapter 6: Unveiling of Secrets**

"Buffy we have a problem," Faith announced, cutting through the tension. The group had been with Drusilla for all of the night and now it was dawn, and the rest of the patrol groups had returned. "There's something in the park."

"What do you mean 'something in the park?" Buffy asked, tearing her eyes away from Dru.

"I don't exactly know. The team and I were fighting off a pack of vampires, and then within moments this thing appeared and killed them all."

"Then this 'something' is on our side?" Angel asked, not completely understanding the issue.

"I don't know. The thing is, the vampires didn't turn to dust. Not right away. This creature bit them and it was like their essence was being drained from their bodies. Then, the wounded vampire kind of stood up for a second, confused, and then turned to dust."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Buffy admitted. Spike and Angel merely glanced at each other, some sort of dark cloud passing over their faces. "We'll ask Giles. Eliza watch Drusilla. The rest of you come with me."

"Giles?" Buffy asked, coming into the room where her former watcher sat, piles of books surrounding him. "We have a question."

"Yes, I know," he said, taking off his glasses and looking at the group. "One of the slayers talked to me a few minutes ago."

"So you know what this thing was?" Faith asked, sitting down at the table, and fixing Giles with a piercing stare. "Well?"

"I think I do," he said, hesitating. "You must understand that most scholars believed that these creatures died out over a hundred years ago, but what you saw tonight fits the description perfectly."

"And what did they see?" Buffy probed, sitting and motioning the rest to do the same.

"A solarian vampire," Angel said, looking at Giles.

"Yes, or vampire of the light. Of course there were many of them when you first became a vampire, but one hasn't been made in over two hundred years," Giles mumbled, more to himself than the others. He looked up, and noting the quizzical stares, began to tell the tale. "Many years ago, when Vampires first began to grow in number, there was a man named Stanislovsky. This particular man married a witch, and the two were reasonably happy together. That is until, one night he was turned by a vampire, right in front of his dear wife's eyes. She never forgave herself for letting it happen. Soon terrible stories began to spring up. You see Stanislovsky was the first truly brutal Vampire. Before him, Vampires killed to eat. He killed for fun. His widow, Maria, believed that all of this, his death, his sins, everything, were her fault, so she vowed to stop him. She delved into the occult. Doing spell after spell on herself, until she became immortal, like her husband, but the spells came at a terrible cost. She found herself needing to suck the essence from vampires to survive. Her heart still beat, and she could be in the light, but she was a cursed woman. Night after night she was forced to drain Vampires of their life force."

"If that didn't give you indigestion what would," joked Faith.

"No, she didn't get indigestion. Instead she was forced to relieve the sins of the vampires that she consumed. She felt the guilt that the monsters could not," Giles stated poetically, pausing for a moment. "Year after year she hunted her former lover, until one night she realized that if she was killed, her cause would die with her. There were already more Vampires than one slayer could handle, so she decided to pass on her gift and curse. She met another woman, bereaved by the turning of a loved one, and infected her. Together they roamed for years, until finally Maria killed Stanislovsky, but by then, she had made countless others to be just like her. They called themselves solarian vampires, because they could be in the sun. They were a very interesting group of creatures. They had better than normal strength, as well as hearing and sight, and yet they were still alive in every respect. As the spell was passed on, they no longer became immortals. Instead, they age, but much slower than most humans. Generally the ratio is one year of theirs to every eight of ours."

"You mean there's such a thing?" Willow asked. No one had seen her come in the room in the middle of the tale. "That means we're in real trouble."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked worriedly.

"I finally found the spell to reopen the hell mouth, and guess what was on the ingredients list? I was just coming to ask you what it was." The room was silent, as everyone looked around at one another, knowing that they needed to find that creature.

"Where's Spike?" Angel asked suddenly.

Upstairs, Spike still stood in the room with Eliza and Drusilla.

"I thought you went downstairs?" Eliza asked nervously.

"You got sober very quickly," Spike noted darkly.

"So did you," she challenged, but seeing the look in his eyes, added, "I've always been able to hold my liquor well. What are you trying to say?"

"When we first saw each other, you called me William and Angel Angelus. We haven't gone by those names for a long time," Spike said, advancing slowly on Eliza, taking no notice of Drusilla who seemed to be gazing at imaginary butterflies. "This confused me at first. I could tell that you weren't a vampire, because your heart was beating and you were breathing. I thought you must have heard those names from a watcher. Then, tonight, Faith mentioned that creature killing vampires. I suppose that was you then?"

Eliza stood stock-still for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

"What's going on?" Connor asked, entering into the room, and standing protectively between Eliza and Spike. "I just came to see if you were ready to go home and get some sleep?" Spike stepped backwards, his way of signifying that the encounter was over, for the time being.

"Let's go," Eliza announced, never taking her eyes off of Spike.

"You seem a little distracted," Connor observed, noting the far-off expression on Eliza's face. The ride back had been very quiet, and she seemed to not really be there. The two were sitting on the couch in Connor's apartment. It had become their nightly ritual that Connor would drive her to his apartment and the two would talk until too tired to stay awake any longer. Then, Eliza would leave. She never told him where she went, and after a while he stopped asking.

"I need to tell you something?" she pleaded, jerking out of her trance. After three hours alone together, she finally turned and looked him in the eye. It took him by surprise to see the vulnerability there.

"Of course," he agreed, a little off guard.

She rose tentatively from the couch, and standing in front of him. "It's time I told you everything." She knelt down in front of him and explained everything that Giles had just explained to the others. When she finished the story, she stood up again and slowly raised her shirt, exposing her stomach to him, but never taking her eyes off of his face. She could tell the moment realization struck. He extended his arm, running his fingers over her numerous scars. It looked as if she had large chicken pocks canvassing her entire stomach. There were about twenty raised, red bumps. Among the many scars there was a "w" written in the angry red tissue. The center peak of the letter fell right over her belly button. There the hole seemed like it had at one time been wider and deeper. He traced the letter with his finger, and then looked up at her face.

"Railroad spike," Connor breathed, absorbing all of the information he had just acquired. His voice was hoarse, and his eyes narrowed in anger. He rose, as if he was ready to exact revenge that very moment, but then, realizing she needed him to be with her instead, he sat again.

"You're taking this well," Eliza said cautiously, waiting for some sort of an outburst.

"I always knew you were different," began. "Why else wouldn't you have aged when we came back from the hell dimension. You look almost exactly the same age, while I aged sixteen years."

"I never knew how to tell you," she said, looking down at her hands in shame.

"Why now?" he asked, suddenly aware at what an odd time she had chosen.

"Earlier tonight I went out to feed, and I had had too much to drink. I wasn't cautious enough, and one of the groups of slayers saw me. Now William," she paused, slightly pained, "Spike, has figured it out. I wanted to make sure that I was the one to tell you. Not someone else."

"Well, now I know, and there is no longer anything between us," Connor said, holding both of her hands in his, but she pulled away slightly.

"There's something else," she said, backing away from him, not daring to look in his eyes. I've been around for almost three hundred years, and I've done a good job at keeping my distance from other people, until now. I fell in love with you, and I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry," Connor consoled, beginning to stand up, but he sat again when she motioned for him to.

"I'm not finished. I explained to you that I age at about 1/8th the speed that you do. We can't be together, because I can't stand to watch you die. Connor, this is over." Her last words hit him like a knife through the heart. He sat there stunned for a moment, and she took advantage of that to walk out the door. By the time Connor knew what was happening, she was gone.

He tried to chase after her, but there was no sign of her in the building or on the street. He was surprised to see that the sun was already high in the sky. Apparently he and Eliza had talked for a long time. Connor resolved to get some rest and be at headquarters by nightfall.


	7. Bonding

**Disclaimer: I don't own nor am I affiliated with Angel in any way**

Well, I think I'm beginning to find my feet on this story again. Sorry, I wrote myself into a corner, and then wanted to go in a different direction. Feedback would be amazingly awesome. Hint hint, nudge nudge.

**Chapter 7: Bonding**

It was well after nightfall, and Eliza had been wandering around the park for hours. How could she have let it get this far? For years she had been careful to remain unattached, no emotion, but the moment she saw Stephen in the other world, she knew that she loved him. It was so strange that even after he changed, her feelings didn't.

"Snap out of it!" Eliza yelled suddenly, startling some love-struck teenagers sitting on a park bench. The pair gave her a terrified look, and then fled into the night.

"We need to talk," Spike said, dropping beside her from a nearby tree.

"I'm not in the mood William," Eliza growled, pushing past him. She didn't get too far, however, because he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a nearby mausoleum.

"I don't care, we need to have this out."

"You know what? Fine! You ruined my life!" she yelled, flinging Spike across the room.

"I'm sorry," Spike said, standing up gingerly. Eliza kept up the attack, while Spike only stood there, allowing her to punch him in the stomach and face repeatedly.

"What?" She asked, suddenly stopping her assault, and letting the man's words sink in.

"I'm sorry."

"How'd you recognize me?" Eliza asked, calming down, but still wanting to avoid the greater issue.

"When you first saw Dru, her hand went to your stomach. Normally that wouldn't seem that strange, but then she talked about your pink dress."

"So after all of these years, you still remember my pink dress? That doesn't seem like you William," Eliza scoffed.

"I've dreamed of it every night since I got a soul."

"I feel so honored. What makes me stand out from your thousands of other victims," Eliza asked, caught a bit off guard.

"You're my baby sister, that's what. I care about you."

"You tied me to railroad tracks and tortured me until you thought I was dead. Yeah that's brotherly love for you," Eliza scoffed, finally hitting the issue.

"I didn't have a soul."

"I trusted you, and you let me to certain death. Yet still, knowing that you were evil, I sacrificed my life for you. I took up this pitiful existence as a Solarian freak! All of this to redeem your soul, and then you go and get it back!"

"I can't believe that you're still alive. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I didn't kill you, but-"

"I understand that you're not who you were at the time, but it's still tough for me. Look at me William," she ordered, revealing her scarred stomach and back. Over two hundred years and I still have the scars," by this point she had broken down into tears. "Not to mention the fact that survive by literally sucking the life out of Vampires. Now I've had to give up the only normal relationship I've had in all that time, because I don't age!" Spike was shocked when Eliza buried her face in his shoulder, still sobbing without restraint. After a moment's hesitation, Spike pulled her in continuing to comfort.

"Isn't this cute?" scoffed a rather scary looking vampire, as he blocked off the only exit from the mausoleum. Behind him, stood over fifty other Vampires, all looking very hungrily at Eliza. "I think there's someone who needs to speak to you.


End file.
